1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rear body structure of an automotive vehicle, particularly to an improvement of a rear side body in the vicinity of rear wheels of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There has been proposed a vehicle body structure having an improved bending rigidity against a load transmitted thereto through the rear wheels of the vehicle. Japanese Utility Model Public Disclosure No. 57-97770 laid open to the public in 1982 discloses a vehicle body structure comprising a pillar reinforcement arranged in a rear pillar member of a vehicle body and connected with a roof side rail at an upper end thereof and with a reinforcement of a floor panel at a lower end.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,225 discloses a rear reinforcement structure having a longitudinal reinforcement member in a side panel structure to be connected with a rear pillar of the vehicle body for providing a door edge seat portions with a sufficient strength and adequate rigidity.
Japanese Utility Model Public Disclosure No. 63-119178 laid open to the public on Aug. 2, 1988 discloses a quarter panel structure reinforced by a longitudinal reinforcement disposed in a space formed by a roof side inner panel and a quarter outer panel. In the vehicle rear body structure, a rear pillar extends upwardly and forwardly so that the rear pillar is connected with a rear fender panel at a lower end portion thereof in a manner of making an acute angle with the rear fender panel. This structure is disadvantageous in that a stress tends to concentrate to the joint portion of the rear pillar and the rear fender panel.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-14140 published on Mar. 23, 1982 discloses a body structure in which a side panel member is constituted by a front side outer panel and a rear side outer panel. In this structure, the front side outer panel is formed with a recess portion at a rear end portion and a rear side outer panel is formed with a recess portion at the front end portion wherein the recess portions of the front and rear side outer panels are complimentary to each other and expanding in opposite directions. The rear end of the front side panel is connected with the front end of the rear side panels to form a center pillar portion of closed cross section.
In manufacturing a vehicle body structure, where a panel member is divided to small pieces of members as disclosed in the Japanese Utility Model publication No. 57-14140, the body structure can be easily manufactured.
It should however be noted that the structure disclosed in the Japanese Utility Model publication No. 57-14140 is still disadvantageous in the following points. Namely, the side panels have the recesses for forming the center pillar portion of closed cross section. These recesses make a machine such as molding configuration complicated. This means that a manufacturing process becomes complicated resulting in a limitation of a variation in designing the body structure.